Voo Visits with On: Benjamin Patch

Voo Visits is a series introducing new and old friends of Voo, like-minded creatives and people from Berlin who inspire us.

Voo Store: How did you first find your way into volleyball? What are your first memories of experiencing engagement with the world around you through creativity?

Benjamin Patch: Growing up I was not into sports at all. I danced and made things from a very young age. And by that I mean the kind of art you would make as a little kid. My mum reminded me of this: When I was 6 years old, I used to go into our backyard and dig really deep. I would dig up mud and make these little bowls out of it. And I would put them on my windowsill and let the sun cook them. I have always been drawn to movement - ballroom dancing, hip hop and jazz. In the beginning, what drew me to volleyball was the movement - it looked just like dancing. It was so beautiful.

V: How did your professional athletic career mould or change you?

B: I remember getting in so much trouble because I was always dancing on the court. And the coaches would never put me on the top court to train with the better players because I would never stop dancing. When I started playing professionally, I became this structured person but I lost sight of who I was.
In the last few years of my professional career, my biggest strength has been putting my whole personality or who I am into the sport. And that kind of transcends into what I'm doing now. Design and creative direction and things like that. I don't think life is about compartmentalising who you are and I think we all have so much capability and are so much more dynamic than we might even understand.

V: How did your studio be.assembly come about?

B: be. Assembly started as a group of artists during Covid. We sold one-off pieces, with all the proceeds going to those in need. An assembly is such a beautiful term for me. This idea of different people coming together by chance to somehow create or just be. Assembly is my ultimate dream. The nature of the assembly is to come with your degree and your training and your talents, but to exist in the studio. We are an interior design and architecture studio that wants to offer our own crafts, objects and furniture.

V: Where do your ideas often come from and what’s the process there?

B: I know now that the real connection for me to clay is not about a predefined form. I used to sit down at the wheel (having drawn or sketched shapes) and try to make these shapes and most times I could, but the shapes were lacking something. When you’re working with earth, you have it in your hands something that is very alive with its own history. The texture of earth, its smell, its colour; our senses are possessed by the feeling of nonhuman wisdom connecting with us. It is something primordial. So I stopped sketching, weighing, measuring and referencing. I let my fingers choreograph against the earth surfaces. Sometimes the ceramic piece is so big, my body glides and moves along its form – almost as if I were dancing again.

V: Did you have any role models in your personal life or in culture?

B: bohhh I think I have many. I can’t say there’s someone necessarily that guides my life but there are hundreds of people that have left an impact. Sometimes it’s a simple as a father, I see on the street hugging his child or the older Slovenian Carpenter that has spent his whole life doing what is he loves with his hands.

V: Do you have other dream subjects or people you really want to work with?

B: I want to do a lot of things— which sometimes can be trouble ha ha. I’d really like to build a beautiful space in Berlin with someone. The city specifically has given me so much space to learn about loving myself, and I’d like to give a piece of that back. Or at least leaving something here that people can experience the appreciation I have for this city in a tangible space. I don’t know if there is someone specific, but I’d really like to work with people that appreciate refinement with the intention to bring people together in a nice way. We need that.

Creative Direction:
Thibaud Guyonnet

Photos:
Javier de la Blanca

Words:
Fuli Gao

In Focus:
Benjamin Patch

* On was born in the Swiss Alps and is the brainchild of three friends that had one radical vision: to revolutionise the sensation of running. The On Sneakers all offer innovative technology that evolves around soft landings followed by explosive take-offs. Running on clouds, really.

ON Cloudwander Waterproof High Alpine will be available online and in-store on March 2nd.

Explore our full On selection here.